A “Leadership Primer” attributed to Colin Powell has been circulating on the web for a while. A lot of writings have attributed to different celebrities in this way, but my research indicates that this one is legitimate. Regardless, the points made is worthy of further dissemination:
Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.
Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It’s inevitable, if you’re honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: you’ll avoid the tough decisions, you’ll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you’ll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset. Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally “nicely” regardless of their contributions, you’ll simply ensure that the only people you’ll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.
Have you seen groups get lost in the weeds trying to make everyone happy? Have you had to make a decision that was best for your group, knowing that it would piss a lot of people off? Are there ways to piss people off without causing divisiveness?
I know that a good leader should do her/his best to avoid giving offense, while not worrying about the small number who all-too-frequently take offense.
Hey everybody, its Pay Attention to Breasts Month!
Now before I go and wear my “free breast exams” t-shirt, I want to state for the record that I am not FOR Breast Cancer, anti-cure, anti-treatment, etc. I help maintain sites like the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation (http://www.ibcresearch.org) and know that the advances with medical technologies have done great things.
However, I have issues with the whole breast cancer pink everything awareness campaign.
It started for me when speaking with the guys in the ibcRF about it. I asked if the site should be pink. I received a resounding “hell no” from it’s founder & was taught why the pink campaign is essentially hogwash.
What I learned was that most of these “pink for the cure” campaigns are tokenism to promote their products. How much money is actually donated to breast cancer research from all the walks/ribbons/pink products we’re all urged to buy or buy into? It’s absolutely hard to find out. There are some products that state specifics, but VERY few do. Most say that a portion of the proceeds goes to breast-cancer research. In most cases, they fail to declare which organization(s) receives the donation or how much.
Then there’s my favorite: the maximum amount to be donated! Some companies cap the amount they will donate. So if you buy the product after the cap is reached, none of your purchase price benefits the cause!
Of course, in exchange for this, these companies receive a huge publicity boost. In the same way, concerned citizens buy ribbons, rubber bracelets, jewelry, cereal, clothing, etc.
As the advocacy group Think Before You Pink points out, there is no national database or oversight to make sure that any of the donation claims are upheld.
Let’s stop for a second & think about that statement again…there is no national database or oversight to make sure that any of the donation claims are upheld. How does one know it’s been done? For large corporations, it would be a publicity nightmare if it was found to have failed to donate…the AMOUNT donated however would probably be considered minuscule to the increased profits for being “pink” in the first place.
So, how does any of the campaigns cure disease? For those who are personally motivated to help solve breast cancer (or any ailment for that matter) advocacy, volunteering or direct donation are the obvious ways to actually make a difference. Buying a necklace with a ribbon made out of garnets, a phone cover or a t-shirt seems, on the other hand, like a way to salve an uneasy conscience by pretending to make a difference.
Lastly, why is it still an awareness campaign? Also seemingly only for women? Men have a higher risk with breast cancer as there are fewer campaigns for men, so detection is at the later stage with a lesser chance of survival. It’s worked for women, so much so that there is now a government recommendation that women in the 40′s skip regular mammograms altogether!
Is it a tragedy for a woman to suffer from breast cancer? Of course it is, but are pink campaigns really doing anything?
So I hope you will join me in not buying anything pink this October or any other October. Buy the best product at the best price and use the savings to make a donation to the charity of your choice. That way you’ll know that the charity is getting all your money, and you get the tax deduction (not some large corporation).
If you want to buy pink because it makes you feel good, go ahead, but give to make a difference…..
You’re not making a difference by buying a yogurt or a box of cereal.
I don’t know if you have been receiving this gem or not, but I certainly have & frankly I’m tired of the nonsense it speaks to:
One Light Bulb at a Time
A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn’t slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American.
Good idea…One light bulb at a time…
Check this out. I can verify this because I was in Lowes the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China . The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA. Start looking.
In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else – even their job. So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track. Let’s get behind her!
My grandson likes Hershey’s candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more.
My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico. Now I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything.
This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off-brand labeled, “Everyday Value.” I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats – they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in – get ready for this – the USA in a company in Cleveland, Ohio.
So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here.
So on to another aisle – Bounce Dryer Sheets. Yep, you guessed it, bounce cost more money and is made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!
My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA – the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!
If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies!
We should have awakened a decade ago.
Let’s get with the program help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U.S.A.
Firstly….
Many of the products listed in the note are made it the USA! Hershey’s candy are named after Hershey, PA which is still making the chocolate now (I looked at one at the store & it shows made in the USA).
I also went & looked at GE & Sylvania (just to mark differences) light bulbs. Both brands listed three locations for manufacturing on the boxes: US, Canada & Mexico! Since we don’t have Kroger I can’t verify the “Everyday Value” statements.
Also here is the Colgate roster:
Colgate Total: Made in U.S.A.
Colgate Fluoride Toothpaste, Kids line: Made in Canada
Colgate Baking Soda & Peroxide Whitening with Oxygen Bubbles
Fluoride Toothpaste: Made in Mexico
Colgate Cavity Protection Fluoride Toothpaste: Made in Mexico
Colgate 2 in 1 Toothpaste & Mouthwash: Made in the UK
Colgate Sparkling White Fluoride Toothpaste: Mexico
Colgate Maximum Strength Sensitive: Made in U.S.A.
Colgate Max Fresh: Made in Made in U.S.A.
From what the specific boxed items are it is probably easier (though not always cheaper) to manufacture these items outside the US we have very stringent laws on it use/distribution (http://fluoridealert.org/mandatory.html).
So much of this sings of the infamous urban legends that float & bloat the internet (e.g. why were they at Lowes for “some reason”? The only time I would be at a Lowes is to BUY HARDWARE). I also like how the Kroger “Everyday Value” is the best thing to buy (maybe they’re trying to recover from the urban legend where Kroger bans gay music).
I appreciate the “warm & fuzzy” that this creates, but it masks AGAIN the real problem & it’s culprits.
Now this would have been great if it started in the 40s, but to do this now would create more problems than it solves. In todays global economy (sorry sports fans, but we’ve been a global economy since WWII) we are simply unable to produce our own goods…so much so that we rely on those other countries for our most basic goods! To build new or restart manufacturing plants for even the simplest items (please remember to include the governmental, eco bullshit requirements/studies/hearings to just get the ability to see if manufacturing someplace in America is doable) is pretty much cost prohibitive in the United States.
The United States is no longer a manufacturing economy, it is a services economy. Fifteen years ago, the assets of the six largest banks in this country totaled 17 percent of GDP … The assets of the six largest banks in the United States today total 63 percent of GDP!!! GDP by the way is our Gross Domestic Product – the goods & services we produce as a nation!
Plus, what if all the people in Mexico, Canada, China, France, England, Germany, Spain, Russia, India, etc. decided to no longer buy American products? As little as we have, it would cripple our economy…again.
The simple answer is the problem is the “too large to fail corporations.” The American people need to steer all this angst at them. Contrary to popular belief they have not gone away, but gotten larger: http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/snapshot_20090909/ and none of the regulations we’ve adopted have slowed them down (it’s actually sped them up in some instances).
If you receive this e-mail PLEASE DELETE RATHER THAN FORWARD!!!!
As Socrates so well said it: “It is better to keep silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”
I would be wrong to take credit for this, so I will simply thank my buddy Keith for sending this to me. Dude…you ROCK!
Things that I found helpful by living this long.
The purpose of fighting is to win…
The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either… The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.
Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.
If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.
I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.
When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away.
A reporter did a human-interest piece on the Texas Rangers. The reporter recognized the Colt Model 1911 the Ranger was carrying and asked him ‘Why do you carry a 45?’ The Ranger responded, ‘Because they don’t make a 46.’
The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. ‘Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?’ ‘No Ma’am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my shotgun.’
Beware the man who only carries one gun. HE PROBABLY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT!!!
But wait, there’s more!
I was once asked by a lady visiting if I had a gun in the house. I said I did. She said ‘Well I certainly hope it isn’t loaded!’ To which I said, of course it is loaded, it can’t work without bullets!’ She then asked, ‘Are you that afraid of someone evil coming into your house?’ My reply was, “No not at all. I am not afraid of the house catching fire either, but I have fire extinguishers around, and they are all loaded too”.
This has been one of the most hectic holiday seasons ever for me.
Everything started the week of thanksgiving. Switching over to my owning the business again-and all the things needed for that such as insurance and so forth, holidays, more clients (which I have no complaints on by the way), as well as some personal hiccups just made this season fly.
I really felt I was trapped in a tornado at times especially as the season is here!
SO…I wanted to apologize to friends & family for not getting you a Christmas Card and/or present. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but I barely got presents for family (ask my Mom who just got her package yesterday & I friggin FORGOT the one item she asked for/needed now).
[BIG Sigh]
So please enjoy the holiday season & know that my thoughts are with you…if nothing else.
UPDATE: This is my rant on photography…but it can probably apply to other things.
So this weekend I decided to be part of a mini photo contest on Facebook.
Nothing special really (the prize is to name the next topic for the contest), but it makes for a nice place to post your work. For amateurs it’s a great way to meet other amateur photographers & hopefully learn new idea & techniques.
So imagine my surprise when one of the contestants not only critiques my picture, but changed it as well! He used the idiom of “personal preferences” to define changing it.
We went round & round..but in the end I decided to let it go as I was getting more vexed with the discussion.
This got me thinking…is it OK to change another artists work?
The simple answer is no…but I wanted to clarify why the answer is no.
Firstly I am OK with whatever the artist wants to use to express themselves. While my preference is to use as little tools as possible on editing photographs, I know that there are those who use various tools to enhance the work the do. That’s fine…it’s what they use to express their art.
My issue is with others that decided to change that work for their own ends.
Until the world of digital artwork, art was done by the artist with little or no chance to change their work. The work was a rendering of art as the artist interpreted the work. You either appreciated the level of effort or moved on to something else you did appreciate.
Many people probably saw ways to change or enhance the work, but in the end it was not possible (or easy). The work stood on it’s own as the artist intended.
Now we move to the age of the digital allowing for more impressive works. For the photographer, it gives additional tools to make the “art” stand out or express something well imagined that would not be possible without the ability of the tool.
Unfortunately, we now have thieves who not only steal the work but change it and even take credit for the changed work as theirs – creating a sad trend for those who simply want to express themselves & share it with others.
For a long time I used to scoff at the photographers who put their moniker (watermark) on a picture, thinking it was the height of conceit to mark their work. I mean it’s already theirs so why the mark?
Now I know how it feels, I will have to rethink the value of the mark. For now, I’m still going to keep the mark off as I really don’t want to add that.
However, as I get further in my journey it may become a necessary evil.
The reality is that the person creating the work is the only one who is to be able to change it should they feel it necessary to do so. To take their digital work, change it to suit you is simply inappropriate.
So today we wrapped up loading my Dell Mini (Vostro a90). It’s a fully functioning MAC OS X (10.5.7) with Office 2008 & iPhoto.
Just under 10MB for everything!
It’s been upgraded to two megabytes of RAM so it’s pretty speedy. Bluetooth, wireless, Ethernet, 3 USB ports, SD card slot, & a video port.
The only thing it continued to lack was the ability to use my ACS EVDO modem.
The Franklin EVDO (CDU-680) is compatible with PC, Macintosh, & Linux according to the ACS website. In following the instructions it loaded the software but would not run/recognize the modem.
On the PC, it loads fine. Steve, my hardware guy, even tried to load it on his Macbook Pro to see if it was something wrong with the Mini. Again, no joy.
After several unsuccessful attempts, I asked Steve to call ACS tech support.
“You don’t need software on a Macintosh. You plug it in and it works!”
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
More failed attempts….we’re told to we need to take it in and get a replacement modem.
While I’m at ACS Steve notices that there is a Macbook Pro with an internet key with and an open browser.
Since we’re waiting we (as good techs do), we decide to test their modem on the demo box on our laptops & their modem on ours.
NO ONE stops us as we are literally swapping these internet key in and out of our respective laptops.
As we’re testing modems we find that the demo works with both modems and neither work on my Mini or his Pro.
I notice that the icon for the demo is different than the loader we have on our systems.
In checking out the packages, we notice that even though the versions are the same…the size are different and our package is a day older than the one on the demo Macbook Pro.
Again, NO ONE stops us as we are literally swapping thumb drives & internet modems in and out of our respective laptops.
Lo and behold…with the newer package, everything works!
That’s when the customer service rep calls my name.
It was so much fun to explain that in the time it took for him to get to us we had copied over the necessary files from their demo and solved the problem ourselves.
22 minutes from the time we go to ACS on Communications Blvd to resolution. Total time from call to us resolving it ourselves? 1 hour & 43 minutes.
If only it was available on the ACS website.
<sigh>
So now I have internet access for my Mini from anywhere.
———————–
If you’re using an ACS internet key and have OS X 10.5.5 or better and can’t get your key to load, just stop by ACS go to the demo Macinosh Pro and copy the ‘mac’ folder to your mac.
Seems that the temporary theme I loaded (Areos from http://thebuckmaker.com/) had an issue in Firefox (and only Firefox – well maybe BlackBird as well since it used Firefox as it’s engine). Now I don’t want to blame the theme’s developer for my mistake. I made the change in the header so this was someting I did…his them works fine out of the box.
As I switched over to Google Chrome from Firefox I didn’t think I had to check Firefox for issues with my blog theme changes. I mean it’s normally Internet Explorer that has issues so like most web designers I know we use our normal browser (Firefox, Safari, Chrome) and rune a check in IE for problems.
This time nowever it was Firefox that had the issue. Everything worked fine in Chrome, Safari, IE & Opera (I view my designs on my iTouch).
The issue was that the Aeros them has a comment counter and since I screen my comments heavily I rarely have comments to my posts. So I commented out the code (normal php commenting code of < !– and — > – of course the spaces would be removed so the comment would work…this is to illustrate) and everything looked fine in Chrome and IE so I thought nothing of it.
Then one of my readers let’s me know the site is screwed up.
I figure he’s on, say, IE 6 or something like that but in talking to him he is on Firefox!
Firefox is having issues? Firefox. FIREFOX?!?!?
He was correct…Firefox did not recognize the commenting out of the comments counter. It wasn’t until I actually deleted the code that the site showed up right.
So to anyone trying to view the site in Firex, I humbly apologize.
Guess it’s time to get serious on the new theme and look…as well as checking the site in ALL browsers from now on.
Posting from Twitter...Correct date for Karl's Celebration of Life is June 23, not July. All times previously posted are correct. http://twitter.com/hogbiker2011/06/21
Karl was not actually around a corner from anyone at time of death, according to an eyewitness. http://twitter.com/hogbiker2011/06/20
Karl was on foot in Haines, went around the side of a building for some privacy and never came back. He was found on the ground. http://twitter.com/hogbiker2011/06/16
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